Last week I waxed poetic about the munchy, crunchy wools of the world - but lest you think I'm saying anything soft is terrible, I needed to set the record straight. This week I look at a noteworthy product from the super-soft side of the fence - it's called, quite fittingly, Supersoft 8-Ply and it comes from Pear Tree Yarn in Australia. Enjoy!

I am curious as to whether this yarn is "optim"-ized or not. My spinning adventure with Optim was okay, for a very fine laceweight yarn, but I'm skeptical about DK or worsted weight without that inherent fiber crimp normal to a merino. On the other hand, that sure sounds like a combing and spinning job done to perfection! Wow. Four inch fiber length in a commercially prepared yarn!Nancy

The reason I have stayed away from Pear Tree yarns so far is that I saw a couple of skeins at a yarn store and there was pilling on the skeins already. (Obviously, it wasn't spontaneous pilling! It was probably due to a lot of loving fondling from fellow knitters...)

Clara, could you tell us the pilling of Pear Tree compare to Swans Island Merino? Because I like the latter though it pills so I might be convinced to invest in a sweater shaver and some Pear Tree yarn :)